20 and counting...

Paul & I have spent the entire month of February celebrating our 20th Anniversary in New Zealand & Australia...it was incredible! On the actual day of our anniversary, March 13th, we drove over to Santa Cruz to eat at one of my favorite restaurants, Gilbert's Firefish Grill.

 

I had a delicious swordfish, but the food isn't the attraction for me...it's definitely the ambiance & the view...I love Santa Cruz!

Last weekend (March 17th), we were scheduled to watch the Middleton grandkids while Kyle & Amy took a "much needed overnighter alone without the kiddos"...come to find out, that was just an excuse to get us out of the Riverhouse. When Adia got home from school, she gave us a note from her parents with instructions to leave the kids with Adia & meet them back at the Riverhouse at 5:00pm. We were confused & had no idea what was going on...did they change their mind because of the bad weather? Maybe they talked Brent & Rochelle into joining us for a game night? When we got there...SURPRISE! All 10 of our kids & their spouses were there to celebrate the day we became a family 20 years ago! We couldn't believe it!!! We were so overwhelmed...

 

As soon as we walked in, the girls began singing "our song" - All I Ask of You from Phantom of the Opera. I couldn't stop crying as we went around the room & hugged each one individually - we couldn't believe they were ALL there! I just wanted to stare at them all!

They had decorated so beautifully (including our party hats)...

 

They presented us with a beautiful book with a personal message from each of them - "A Children's Guide to Love & Happiness." Each message was full of tender feelings, sharing how they feel about us & being a part of this crazy family.

 

Ben & Brent did the grilling in the rain & they all pitched in to fix a delicious dinner.

They even fixed our favorite desserts Glory Albin's mint brownies & white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. The almond cake was made by THE Glory Albin herself (Thanks so much, Glory!)...delicious!

After dinner we played some very clever games. The kids were given a story frame with key words missing & they had to fill in the blanks to create an outrageous "Love Story." They traded them around for each to read one aloud & it was our job to guess who wrote which story...some were definitely outrageous!

We played a "Name The Love Tune from 1992" - we had to watch a clip of the music video & name the title & the artist...I did NOT do very well at all, I didn't even know 1/2 of them! We also played the "Not So Newlywed Game." Ty & Christi (our newliest newlyweds) were kicking everyone's tails, but Jill & Kiff scored big on the bonus question for the win.

After the games we cut the cake & celebrated with some sparkling cider. They made us feel special - it was definitely a night we will NEVER forget!

They all spent the night & the next day we went out for pizza & a movie...we took up two whole rows in the theater.

After the movie, we hung out at the Riverhouse & enjoyed visiting & more games before everyone headed home early the next morning. We still can't believe they were able to pull this off! BEST. GIFT. EVER!!! (Many thanks to all the grandparents who watched all the grandkids so they could make this happen...& thanks to Terri & Jill for taking all these pictures - I didn't even take my camera out of its case the entire weekend!)

Finding Nemo

One of the biggest attractions to Australia, for Paul, was the opportunity to dive the Great Barrier Reef. According to Paul (& most divers you talk to), diving the Great Barrier Reef is like the "holy grail" of diving. It is the largest reef system in the world, stretching about 3000 kilometers (that's 1800 miles!), & can been seen from outer space as you can see from this Google Image I snagged from the Internet...

If the truth be known, all of these "reef" pictures were taken from the Internet...you seriously didn't think Paul would bother taking pictures, did you? Don't get me wrong, Paul is a really good sport about my picture obsession, but it's just not HIS favorite thing. He did however help me choose which photos best represented his dive experience so the pictures we chose are typical of what he saw... In fact, this is the actual dive boat (taken from their website) they slept on for their overnight excursion - they did 7 dives in 25 hrs!

They saw impressive coral gardens, sea turtles, sharks, hundreds of different species of tropical fish, sand rays, glorious & colorful nudibranchs, feather duster & fan worms of every color imaginable, & on & on & on...

 

...and YES, they did find Nemo! They actually saw at least three species of clown fish - "& they know funny!" He said it was just like being in the movie...

 

While the guys were exploring the ocean blue, Vicky & I did a little exploring on our own in the harbor city of Cairns (pronounced "Cans"). One of the many things I love about Vicky is her adventuresome spirit! She never meets a stranger & is friendly to everyone, which comes in handy when asking locals what they recommend for entertainment. We learned how to navigate the local public transit system & made our way to the Esplanade...a beautiful park with a playground, shady trees, & a sandy bottom pool right on the edge of the shoreline of the "lagoon."

It was extremely hot & muggy...definitely tropical! We grabbed some lunch & found a marvelous farmers market with gorgeous fruits & vegetables, fresh baked breads, fresh fish, & a clothing & jewelry section. We enjoyed "taste testing" different fruits & veggies & we bought a bunch to take back with us on the bus!

The next day we decided to take the train ride up to the "rainforest" village of Kuranda. The Kuranda Scenic Railway winds its way through mountains, cutting its way through the Barron Gorge National Park, passing several waterfalls, numerous tunnels cut through the mountainsides, & over bridges.

We visited the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary, home to over 1500 tropical butterflies...we didn't see all of them.

We boarded an old amphibious World War II Army Duck & drove the trails & splashed into a lake as our guide explained some of the different plants & wildlife in the area giving us a different perspective. I loved how the roots & vines wound around trunks & branches creating a network of tangled jungle.

I also learned what a fern basket is...as leaves fall & get caught on ferns below, the leaves will collect, decompose & become fertile beds for seedlings to sprout anew...plants growing on plants!

I loved looking at the blue sky through the canapé above...

 

We saw an aboriginal culture show with traditional aboriginal dances & had a guided "dreamtime walk" where we learned more about the didgeridoo & had a chance to throw a boomerang again. Our guide was rather funny & he was impressed with my "skills" & told the group we were related...he said I was his "sister from another mother."

We saw more kangaroos, dingos, lizards, & crocodiles - however, I had camera problems & didn't get any pics accept of me & this koala...

 

On the way back we decided to take the Skyrail back - over 4.7 miles of cableway with suspending gondola cars over the Barron Gorge National Park on the opposite side of the Gorge from the train. We got to see the same scenery, waterfalls & rainforest from a birds-eye perspective...it was awesome!

It was a fantastic trip & we were grateful to be able to see such a beautiful part of the world with such great friends...they were helping us celebrate 20 years of marriage. Life. Is. Good!